Mailbox for Dec. 20

The "alt-right," the politically correct term the press seems to insist on calling the group that has been given a platform since the election of Donald Trump, are white supremacists.

By calling them the "alt-right," a name that sounds like a rock group, we are giving them legitimacy they do not deserve.

Their ideology follows the belief we need to preserve European-American culture in the U.S. and preserve traditional Christian values but from a uniquely white supremacist perspective. That, by definition, is white supremacy. We should call them what they are.

The Klu Klux Klan burn crosses, a very Christian symbol. Dylann Roof, the man who killed nine African-Americans in the Charleston Church, calls himself a Christian. He is described as a devout Christian and went to church camp and worshiped regularly. He is a member of the Lutheran Christian Church of Columbia.

Timothy Mcveigh, the Oklahoma bomber, was involved with the Christian identity movement. These are all radical Christian terrorists. Radical Christian terrorists use other insidious behavior like cyber-bullying and fake news to promote their sick agenda.

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We should call them what they are.

Our Christian history is not exactly stellar. Over a million people were killed in the Crusades, many of them Muslims and Jews, in the name of Jesus Christ. The Protestant Reformation was incredibly bloody, making what ISIS has done pale in comparison.

All religions seem to have extremists in their midst. The problem is not with Islam or Christianity or any other religion, but with extreme religious behavior. White supremacists exacerbate the issues by weaponizing their religion and ideology. They are not part of the solution.

Louis Beard, Windsor

UNC and a Pied Piper

You have succeeded in helping attach the blinders to those impressionable University of Northern Colorado elite. Why not burn a few books while you are at it? This form of intolerance is and always has been a whipping post for those effete few. Just what does an "education" actually entail today? Is it only about indulgence-defined subjects? I once read a poem about a Pied Piper.